Mark Your Calendar!

This chubby little face will make his way into the world on Monday, May 14th.  I will be induced a week early to make sure he's not too big.  

Based on his current measurements (head, chest and leg), he will probably be around 8 1/2 pounds at full term.  The doctor estimated that he was 7 lbs 4 oz last week at 36 weeks.  Makena was 7 lbs 2 oz at birth!  Karis was 8 lb 4 oz, so this little guy may be our biggest yet.  

I feel like he's been growing a lot the last couple of weeks.  I can definitely feel the added weight in my belly.  People keep asking me if I'm ready for three kids.  I don't know about that, but I sure am ready to not be pregnant!

Clearly The Third Child

I've been so bad about posting about our third baby.  I haven't even put down how we found out the gender.  I guess it's just a sign of what's to come and how this little child's life will be a bit different than the two girls'.

It's a boy!

I had an appointment when the baby was 17 weeks along (I'm now 27 weeks!  Yes, that's how long it's been).  At that appointment, I met with the Dr. for the first time (and not one of the nurse practitioners).  I was told that the Dr. typically does a sonogram if there is a machine in the room. Anxious to discover the gender of the baby, I was hoping he would be able to see if we were having a boy or girl.  You typically find out at 20-weeks but the gender can be determined as early as 17-weeks.

At the doctor's office, I was escorted to a room with a sonogram machine.  Yes!  I was very hopeful.  The first thing the doctor did was listen for the heartbeat.  He said it sounded good.  And then he said, "Sounds like a boy."  I immediately responded, "Don't just say be saying that, especially if it's not definite."  I didn't want him to give me false hope.  

He decided to take a look at the baby and got on the sonogram machine.  He started at the head and worked his way down (see photos from bottom up).  He then saw what looked like signs of a boy (3rd picture from the top).  He looked around to make sure he wasn't mistaking it for the umbilical cord.  He couldn't see a good full view, but he said he was pretty sure it was a boy -- 98% sure.  At the last minute, he got a good view and said it's definitely a boy (1st picture).  He labeled the picture and then congratulated me for my "early Christmas gift" as I tried to hold back my tears of joy.

In my heart, I knew we were having a boy.  In the weeks prior, I felt like God was growing my heart to really want what he had for us.  He placed some things on my heart during a church service.  Through a random conversation I had with someone who drew my blood at a lab, my desires continued to grow.  He even used a t.v. show to show what a relationship with a son might be like.  But even with all that, I can't say I was 100% sure.

I was sad that Derek wasn't there when the doctor told me.  When I got home I walked him through the sonogram and explained each photo.  When he got to the last one and read the labels he said, "Does that say what I think it says?"  "Yep," I said.  He was quiet.  Karis called him from upstairs. He got up, muttered something about having to get new baby clothes, and then walked away.  Huh?  That's his reaction??  I talked to him later and he explained he was just in shock because he was convinced we were having another girl.  We are now both excited to have a little boy and can't wait to meet him!  Now if we can only decide on a name...

One More to the Mix

The newest baby Robinson is scheduled to arrive May 21, 2012!  Below are some first looks at the baby.  

At 9 weeks:

At 12 weeks:

We have told Karis that there is a baby in Mommy's tummy.  Thanks to her previous experience with her little sister, I think she gets it... at least more than the average 2-year old.  

Daddy shows Karis how she can gently pat mommy's tummy and talk to the baby.  Karis gets excited, and even a little embarrassed.  With a big grin, she leans into my tummy and says, "Hi Baby!"  Her grin quickly turns to a frown and she says, "Baby not talking!"  She doesn't understand why and gets sad that the baby won't talk back to her.  

One morning, Karis told us that she wanted to be in mommy's tummy too.  I told her she's too big, to which she responded, "How did baby get in there?"  I thought to myself, "Lord, please don't make us have to explain to a 2-year old where babies come from!!"

When I was 5 weeks pregnant, I took the girls to Makena's 18-month check-up.  After the nurse took Makena's basic vitals, we were left in the exam room to wait for the doctor.  When the door shut, Karis with excitement asked, "Baby come out now?!"  it's going to be a long 9 months for Karis...

Makena Grace is born!

(I'm back-dating this to Tuesday, so forgive me if I mess up the verb tenses).

Makena Grace Robinson was born Tuesday, March 16 at 2:00 PM. She weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.

Lena was again quick to dilate... not as quick as last time. But she did jump from 7 to 10 cm just as fast as she was from 6 cm to 7 cm. Although we warned everyone and the doctor knew it, too, we (Lena) still caught them off-guard.

Julie and I were focused on the machine showing contractions and heartbeats. Lena or the baby would shift every so often, and we'd have to readjust the band that measures the contractions. At the end, Lena thought baby was shifting again... the baby had, but she was primed and ready to come out. [FLASHBACK: With Karis, I could she part of her head when they checked her. It was about the size of a quarter and they advised Lena not to do a practice push. We had to wait on the doctor to arrive. Upon doc's arrival, Lena pushed 4 times in about 12 minutes for Karis to emerge. ] Once again, Lena had arrived at 10 cm. They again enforced the "no push" rule. They called her doctor so she could rush from office to hospital. She apparently rushed a little too much and was pulled over for speeding (20 MPH over posted limit). When she explained her patient was at 10 cm and waiting, the officer advised she wasn't going to be able to assist if she were in an accident from speeding but left her off without a ticket.

Doctor arrives and is prepping at the foot of the bed. Don't know who said something to make Lena laugh (probably her hilarious husband), but she started laughing. The crowning that began even more than the quarter size of Karis, began to grow more. With each laugh, the baby was coming out. We had to add a "no laughing" rule until doc was ready. When she got the green light to push, Makena joined us on the first push. Lena almost literally birthed her from laughing. Reminded us of Abraham's wife Sarah in the Bible who was laughing as she didn't think she could be pregnant at 90 yrs old. They named baby Isaac which meant laughter. But we couldn't find a female equivalent that we liked.

Upon further baby name research, one of the top three names ("Makenna") had a variation in spelling that had a meaning we liked. Makena means "happy one" in Kikuyu (a tribe of Kenya). We were sold on it but cautiously took our time to make sure it fit. We can both attest that there is more pressure when you go into the hospital without a finalized name. I still like that we didn't go in with one name picked and that we were open to a selected few, but it was harder than I thought to narrow down. We even opened search up again.

I could tell a difference in the baby being born earlier in day. It seemed much easier on us both. Karis was born at 10:30 PM or so. It seemed like the doctors and nurses kept us up later with tests and such.

Sadly, Karis wasn't allowed into the hospital to visit her little sister. We didn't get the memo that no one under 16 was allowed up because of the flu scare. My mom and c0-worker Yukie worked really hard to get to the hospital so we could get a family photo at the hospital. But Grandma and Yukie both got to meet the unnamed baby at that point in time.

Thankfully, Lena was experiencing no pain afterwards all around. She did incur some sore plumbing apparatus as a result of a baby that sucks hard. We do need to take Makena to the pediatrician before the weekend as she's lost more than the acceptable amount of weight (7% vs the allowed 5-6%) and is showing signs of being jaundiced. She has still been spitting up fluids that had surrounded her and she ingested because perhaps she didn't have it forced out with many labor pushes. Prayers for healthy and quickly recovering mom and baby are appreciated.

We've posted photos and videos on Facebook (you don't need account to see them). Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55148&id=1483001948&l=837f3e92cb. We'll likely continue to add photos there, so bookmark it if you'd like.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for your continued prayers. We have a lot of learning and adjusting to do. We're very grateful that Grandma is here to help for another week.

For the record...

In 7 hours we'll be checking into the hospital to induce our second daughter's birth. I am not nervous one bit. I'm excited. I'm excited Lena will once again get to eat whatever she wants at will. I'm excited to see how great of a big sister Karis will be. I'm excited for changing teeny tiny diapers on a child that won't arch her back, kick her legs, or otherwise resist. =)

Now, also for the record, I will be nervous as heck the first day I am watching both girls by myself.

A name and plenty of photos will be forthcoming....

The Second Time Around

I haven’t really reflected much about this second pregnancy. With little Karis and life in general, it’s been tough to do so. I can’t say I love being pregnant, but I am thankful that I’ve had relatively easy pregnancies with no complications. I am grateful for that, and I am still amazed that there is a little person growing inside of me. What a miracle!

The 1st trimester was definitely more challenging since I couldn’t take naps and rest when I wanted to or needed to. The 2nd trimester was fairly easy and quick -- no time to sit around and just daydream about having a baby! The third trimester has been a lot tougher. My body has been super tired with the extra weight while caring for Karis. My 22 lb baby has been the exception of the “no heavy lifting” rule. I’ve been having back pains which have made doing daily things pretty tough. I've been trying to be good about not doing too much around the house and asking Derek for help as much as possible. He's been great about bringing down the laundry, vacuuming, and carrying Karis up/down the stairs for me.

Since the holidays, things have been pretty quiet. I’m trying to enjoy the “calm before the storm” and not do too much. I have the tendency to make myself busy, but I’m trying hard to resist that. Plenty of sleep and individual attention to Karis have been my main focus lately.

I am 30-weeks along, and with only 10 short weeks to go, I am excited and nervous at the same time. Life will definitely be different!

I'm excited to meet this little baby. She is so active and has some pretty powerful kicks and jabs. I wonder how she’ll differ in looks, personality and temperament from Karis. I also can’t wait to see how Karis responds and treats her little sister. I think she’s going to be great!

Whenever Derek tells Karis to "kiss baby sister," she kisses my belly. She does it EVERY single time. It's really sweet. But... I'm wondering if she thinks a belly is called a "baby sister." =)

Thanks Grandma!

The Robinson family wants to give a shout out to Karis' nana. She came out for Karis' party. She drove a long way (not easy doing it alone) and helped us prepare for the party. She did so much for us! Thank you also for Karis' very first pony!

Approaching 1 Year

Grandma Robinson is in town and she has been surprised at what Karis is now doing. I realized it's been a long time since I've posted about Karis' new "tricks" and development. So, as she is about to turn 1 year old, here is what she's been up to (sorry, no time right now to post any accompanying photos or video):


She walks everywhere. It took her about month to get the hang of it. She is pretty fearless and still falls often. But she catches herself pretty well and avoids falling into large objects. I'm surprised she hasn't seriously hurt herself. I'm amazed because so many times I jump out of my seat thinking for sure she's going to hit her head on a table or wall... but she never does. We rarely see her crawl anymore and she won't hold our hand while she walks. She often takes off in a restaurant or into a large crowd at church and doesn't look back.


She took one lesson from dad on how to climb stairs and quickly got the hang of it. Going down took a couple more lessons, but she's now a pro. We no longer have to go up and down with her. We do however have to remind her that there's no playing on the stairs and that once she starts her ascent or descent, she cannot stop.

She likes to dance/bounce to music.

She loves to clap when we say "Yay!" or when she sees other people clapping (mainly on TV). Her clapping turned into her sign for "more." She does it often in her high chair or when I ask her if she wants to eat. The other day, someone was feeding her and she said, "Wow, Karis is so happy when she eats." Little did she know that she wasn't feeding Karis fast enough and she wanted more food!

Solid food is now a large part of her diet. Her favorites are Cheerios, fruit, tofu and cheese. She still only has two teeth.

Her hair is finally starting to grow. She still doesn't have much but the hair that she does have is growing longer. She actually has enough to have bed head when she wakes up.

One thing she's been doing recently is taking a burp cloth, or a clean rag or tissue and she wipes things down. It looks like she's going around dusting the chairs and wiping the floor down. We really need to develop this so that she can start helping around the house.

She still speaks mainly babble, but she does clearly say "dada" and "mama."

She does this big cheesy smile where she grins real big, squints her eyes and throws her chin up in the air. She flashes this smile when she's happy, flirting or has her hands on something she knows she's not supposed to (i.e., the remote, a pen, bills)

She still hasn't shown any signs of stranger anxiety. She loves meeting new people and getting their attention.

The Remote

Two Facts about Karis:

1) She knows that the remote does something to the TV. You'll see in the video she looks over her shoulder a couple of times. She is looking at the TV.

2) She clearly knows what she should not be doing or playing with. This is displayed in the last couple seconds of the video.

Karis' First Tooth

Karis finally has her first tooth! A second one is just starting to break through. It's amazing how one little tooth can cause so much drool!

The Search Is On (Again!)

We found out today that our babysitter will no longer be able to watch Karis for us. She has put in her 2-week notice. In the past 7 months, we've had several short-term arrangements which has led to us having to look for a new caretaker every 1 1/2 to 2 months. Finding someone is always difficult, but we've never been without one. We trust that God has someone else for us to find in the next couple weeks.

If you know of anyone you could recommend, please let us know. If not, we would appreciate your prayers. We long to find someone who we trust and feel comfortable with and who will give Karis great care. Here are some more specifics about our needs:

• One day a week, preferably Thursdays
• 8:30 am - 4:30 pm
• The day includes feeding her two bottles and a snack and putting her down for two naps
• Karis is 9 months old and on a schedule. There isn't a lot of guesswork to taking care of her. She's a pretty happy and easy going baby!
• We can drop her off at someone's (baby-friendly) home or they can come to ours
• This is a paid position

A Little Bit of Labor on Labor Day

We spent Labor Day at the Lee family's home. My cousin and her kids also came and spent the day with us. We hung out, took naps and had a great Korean dinner.

It was a relaxing day for us, but Derek put our nephews to work. We drove up the Mazda which we rarely drive and it sits on the street most of the week. The car was looking more brownish gray than yellow, so Derek asked the older boys if they would want to make a few bucks in exchange for washing the car. They willingly obliged. $5 a piece was $10 well spent for Derek. And now the car looks great!

Sophie, Karis and I stood in the shade and watched. I fielded all kinds of questions from the little 5 year old about babies. Where does she sleep? Where does she go to the bathroom? Does she get in trouble? Why does she spit so much? The innocence of all of her questions were great!

Too Busy To Blog

It's been a little while since we last blogged. Honestly, we've been pretty busy --no, not with work or our crazy social lives. We're busy with our little Karis H. Robinson. The "H" now stands for Hurricane.

She is one curious, strong, persistent, fearless, non-stop baby. She is now in every part of our home. She used to stay in the main traffic areas, but she now crawls under the table, through the high chair, and even up into the dishwasher. She also used to stay close by, but now she wanders off into the next room or straight towards the open front door.

Here is what we deal with on a daily basis:

1) Diaper changes, or better known as "Mommy (or Daddy) vs. Baby" wrestling matches.
Here is a play by play:

• Baby gets put down on the changing mat
• Baby submits for about 8 seconds (max!) and then attempts to flip over
• Mommy places one hand on baby's stomach
• Baby squeals
• Mommy is a sucker and loosens her hold
• Baby turns over and mommy grabs baby's ankles
• Baby starts to walk away on her hands with her legs in the air
• Mommy releases legs for fear of a face plant and is left watching a little naked butt crawl away
• Clearly it seems as if baby is winning during the entire match, but eventually mommy wins ... but not without a few beads of sweat on her brow

2) Every day we try to teach her what she is not allowed to play with in hopes that one day she will actually understand what we're saying. We call our home the Garden of Eden. There are plenty of toys, an exersaucer, a little shelf for her toys so she can stand and play, a little activity table, plastic containers we leave out on the kitchen floor for her to play with, etc. But like the Garden of Eden, there are just a couple of apple trees Karis is not allowed to "eat" from. Of course, those are the things she is most drawn to ALL DAY LONG. Those things include the bathroom, the refrigerator, the pots and pan rack, and one exposed outlet we use for her baby monitor.

We now keep the bathroom door closed at all times. But if one of us goes in there, you will soon hear a toy drop and then little legs scurrying along the carpet. In just a couple of seconds, little Karis will be at the door with a big smile and she'll excitedly continue on into the bathroom. She'll stand up along the toilet and pull out the toilet paper, or she’ll look into the tub where she takes her baths, or she’ll play with the tag that hangs off the pipe behind the toilet. If a guest leaves the toilet lid open and the bathroom door open, she will notice it far sooner than one of us will. She makes her way in there and dips her fingers in the toilet bowl.

It's the same thing with the refrigerator. If the door opens, she’ll quickly make her way over and crawl around or even under the door just to stand there and look at the mecca of things she's never seen, touched or stuffed in her mouth before.

3) Michievous behavior. One example of this is her fairly new "skill" she has taught herself. She can now pull herself up on the hamper, take the lid off and pull out her dirty clothes… as if there wasn’t enough of her stuff lying around everywhere. There are plenty of other examples such as chewing on our flip flops, knocking down the trashcan to get at the paper inside, emptying the diaper caddy, and pulling out diaper wipes to suck on them.

4) Loud repetitive behavior. One thing she loves to do is stand up and pound her hands above her head against whatever is supporting her, be it the DVR in the entertainment center, the bedroom door or the sliding mirror closet doors. It's quite loud and not our favorite thing for her to do, but she seems to be doing it out of sheer excitement – for what, I don’t know. Another non-favorite of ours is her opening and closing the door of the entertainment center. She will open and slam the door closed over and over and over again.

There are probably things that I forgot to mention but I think you get the idea. But all that said, I am having so much fun with her. She makes me smile and laugh all day long. If you just look at her, she gets happy and smiles. When she does, how can I not quickly forget about the thing she just knocked over or the receipt she just ate?

She plays so well by herself but she definitely loves having someone to play with. Her giggles are contagious and she gives the best little hugs and kisses. I love watching her try to figure things out and slowly start to understand a little more about the world she lives in. I am so thankful that God has entrusted us with this precious life. I just pray that we will be honorable, loving and gracious every step of the way.

Karis at 8-months

Karis turned 8-months old earlier this week. She has had quite the busy month or two. She has accomplished a lot (some great and some not so great things) in a short period of time. Here is a quick list of the things she has been up to:

• she crawls like a champ from room to room
• she comes when she's called
• she can pull up on everything, even a wall
• she is just starting to cruise along the sofa
• she has eaten a fair amount of paper, pieces of mail, and envelopes
• she has managed to dip her fingertips in the toilet bowl
• she has stuffed her mouth with toilet paper while spinning out half the roll
• she has managed to open the diaper wipe container and suck on the wipes
• she recognizes her name
• despite her parents' best efforts, she has managed to snag flip flops and chew on them
• she tore a door stop off the wall that made ...well, use to make an interesting "twang" sound every time she tugged on it at our friend's house
• she burned her finger on the outside of the stove =(
• she is constantly on the move and therefore has taken a good number of bumps to the head and pinches to the fingers
• she gives kisses (quite wet and sloppy)
• she has learned how to give high-5s
• she is working on the fine art of eating finger foods. she can pick them up, she just doesn't open her hand to release them into her mouth and ends up flinging them onto the floor.

Summer Days

It sure has been hot the past month or so. Unfortunately, we've had to run the A/C every day to stay cool. I wish I could say that we've been spending every day at the pool, but I can't. It's actually a lot of work to get all geared up, dressed, lathered with sunblock and down at the pool when Karis is awake for no longer than two hours at a time (and that has to also include taking a bottle that she takes her time with).

But, we have made it down to the pool a couple times. Each time we go, she seems to enjoy the water more. At first, she didn't really pay attention to the fact that she was in a large pool of water. Now she is more aware and enjoys playing with the water. She definitely enjoys it more when her cousins are hanging out with her.

Here she is sporting her new bathing suit that Aunt Stephanie bought her.

Time for Rogaine?

No, not for Derek... thank goodness... for our baby girl. Her hair doesn't seem to be growing in. We keep waiting and waiting and waiting. All of her friends (younger and older) have a nice set of hair, beautifully adorned with bows, flowers, etc. Not Karis. There is nothing to adorn.

We are hopeful because she has one patch of hair at the top of her head that is growing in just great. Now if just the rest of her head would do the same.

Here are some photos of Karis taken at a wedding we were at this morning.  

Daddy's little girl

Karis stayed nice and quiet during the ceremony.  During the reception, her sleepiness kicked in and she became quite talkative at the most inopportune time (the bride's father was not able to make it to the wedding due to a stroke the day he was supposed to fly out. She tearfully started to talk about him when Karis started to "talk" too.  Yikes!).  We went outside during the speeches and took a few more photos.

The Word "No"

I recently read an article in a parenting magazine about how not to overuse the word "no" with your baby. If you're always saying, "No, don't do that," or "No, don't touch that," your baby will likely tune the word out. Or worse, their first word may be "no" (we'd prefer it to be "mommy" or "dada"). They recommended you save the word "no" for safety situations. If you say "no" when they're about to touch something hot or do something dangerous, they will be more likely to take notice.

We've been trying to make a conscious effort not to overuse the word so we've been frequently saying, "Karis, let's not do that" and "Karis, why don't you come over here and play with your toys?" We say it often as there are many things that Karis is drawn to that we would rather she not play with. She has a whole area in our living room with toys galore, but she always wanders off looking for something else.

Other things she does include trying to get at her baby monitor camera while standing up in her crib.  She also loves to eat paper and we'll find a receipt or a piece of paper in her mouth that she's found laying around.  

She also doesn't sit still for too long in her bouncer or her rocker. This is one of the many positions she would rather be in. 

 

Bath Time

It's been awhile since we've taken photos of Karis' bath time. The last time we shared photos (http://sweetfamilyrobinson.blogspot.com/2009/01/bath-time.html), bath times looked very different.

Here are a few pics of Karis' pre-bath time.

First Pull Up

Last Sunday, I tried to get Karis to take a quick nap before going to church. No such luck. I went into her room to get her but she was playing happily in her crib so I let her be. Earlier in the morning, I saw her for the first time go from a crawling position to a sitting position. Then what seemed like within the same hour, I was watching her in her crib pulling herself up. Is life in fast forward mode or is it just me?

Needless to say, when Derek got home from church that day he lowered the crib once again.